That billionaire murderer Robert Durst effectively becomes an innocent man in death is utterly outrageous; that he has defeated justice is ludicrous and the key question now is: “Who gets his fortune?”
The beyond bonkers billionaire Robert Durst – who outrageously was allowed to die in a hospital rather than prison yesterday – was undoubtedly a serial killer. How many people he killed will forever now remain likely unknown, but without doubt this megalomaniac 78-year-old slayed not only his best friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles, California in December 2000 but also his neighbour Morris Black in Galveston, Texas in October 2001.
Deviant Durst, whose wife, Kathie, disappeared without trace in January 1982, will not be missed by anyone – not even his relatives; they came to a settlement with him in 2006 in which they bunged him £46 million ($65 million, €53 million or درهم239 million) as part of a likely since unfulfilled hope that he’d disappear and shut his almighty gob – amazingly now ‘technically’ will be in death an innocent man.
Speaking to The Guardian this morning, a former federal prosecutor with no involvement in the case, Neama Rahmani, commented:
“As the law is right now, Durst’s conviction will be vacated and it’s like it never happened. This is such a unique case. It’s really unprecedented that someone can be involved in three different murders in three states and escape justice.”
Going further of this crackpot crazy crossdresser, Westchester county district attorney Mimi Rocah added:
“After 40 years spent seeking justice for her death, I know how upsetting this news must be for Kathleen Durst’s family. We had hoped to allow them the opportunity to see Mr Durst finally face charges for Kathleen’s murder because we know that all families never stop wanting closure, justice and accountability.”
Expressing sympathy for the victims, John Lewin, the LA county deputy district attorney who prosecuted Durst for Berman’s murder concluded:
“It’s a shame when anybody loses their life, however, it’s important to keep in mind that Bob Durst lived to be 78 years old, decades longer than two of his victims. To the end he was hostile, unrepentant, and unremorseful. My thoughts and sympathies lie with his victims.”
Now, however, a new legal battle will likely ensue between this murdering monster’s ‘wife’ since 2000, Debrah Lee Charatan and his birth family. There are hundreds of millions at play and no doubt that’s the only battle we’ll now sadly actually see come to play in court.
Pictured top – Robert Durst with his ‘disappeared’ since 1982 first wife Kathie McCormack. He was ‘technically’ married to her until 1990.
The now forevermore only “suspected” serial killer came to wider public attention after ‘The Jinx’ went viral. During filming of the documentary, he declared to camera: “There it is. You’re caught! …. You’re right, of course. But you can’t imagine. … Arrest him … I don’t know what’s in the house … Oh, I want this … What a disaster … He was right. I was wrong. And the burping … I’m having difficulty with the question … What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” He subsequently chillingly added: “I did not tell the whole truth, nobody tells the whole truth.”Robert and Kathie Durst on their wedding day with one of their dogs. In total, during their marriage, the couple supposedly had seven dogs. All of them were named Igor and of them, in a “rare interview with the ‘New York Times’ in January 2015, Douglas Durst, the head of the family’s real estate empire, shared that his oddball brother had practiced “killing and disposing his wife” using the dogs. He declared: “Before the disappearance of my sister-in-law, Bob had a series of Alaskan Malamutes, which is like a husky. He had seven of them, and they all died, mysteriously, of different things, within six months of his owning them. All of them named Igor. We don’t know how they died, and what happened to their bodies. In retrospect, I now believe he was practicing killing and disposing his wife with those dogs.”This seriously sinister got away with killing Morris Black based on claiming self-defense in spite of dismembering his body. He was convicted of killing his friend Susan Berman in September 2021, but with his death this will now be voided thanks to a legal technicality as his case was under appeal. Sadly, this psycho will now never face trial for the death of his first wife, Kathie, and though he was potentially also linked to the disappearances of Lynne Schulze from Middlebury, Vermont in 1971 and Karen Mitchell from Eureka, California and Kristen Modafferi, who was last seen in San Francisco in 1997, he’ll never face justice for what he likely did to them either.The serial killer’s younger brother, Douglas, commented of his sibling in March 2015: “We hope he will finally be held accountable for all he has done.” Sadly, this monster’s death has ended the possibility of that.In mid-2002, Robert Durst signed over a power of attorney to Debrah Lee Charatan (pictured top with her “late” husband Steve Holm and lower right with her now deceased replacement for him). In 2006, he gave her around £14 million ($20 million, €16 million or درهم73 million) and to this date she continues to plug her trade online at BCBprop.com.
Matthew Steeples explains what’s next for convicted mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell as she faces a second trial and sentencing
All’s looking far from rosy in ‘Maxwell House’ and though the siblings of the now convicted criminal sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell have been using their @RealGhislaine Twitter account to bleat about how her conviction shows “the deep flaws in the US justice system,” they’ve unsurprisingly garnered little sympathy.
On Monday 3rd January, the @RealGhislaine account announced: “While the jury verdicts have been acclaimed by victims’ groups & commentators as a welcome development in the hunting down of sexual assault perpetrators, this case shows the deep flaws in the US justice system.” If the verdict had gone the other way, you can bet that the account would have been saluting the US justice system instead.69 Stanhope Mews East was the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell between 1989 and 1997. It was also, the Met Police clearly believed at one point, the location of an alleged brothel given the efforts they placed into surveilling it in 1994. The questions now are thus: Why was this investigation stopped and did anyone powerful intervene to force this investigation to be stopped?After her conviction on Thursday last, editor-in-chief of ‘The Steeple Times’ Matthew Steeples shared his thoughts on the case on Twitter. His missive went viral and has been retweeted over 880 times, quote 39 times and liked nearly 3,500 times. In it, he called for the Metropolitan Police to reopen their 1994 investigation into what went on at an alleged brothel at Ghislaine Maxwell’s then home – 69 Stanhope Mews East Mews, South Kensington, London, SW7 5QT. Again today, we call upon Dame Cressida Dick to finally do the decent thing and revisit this matter – even if she did go to the same school and the same college at the same university with ‘Cap’n Bob’s’ decidedly deviant daughter.
Indicative of a collection of cretins with exactly the same kind of arrogance as their late pension pot plundering papa, the Maxwell family decision to go down the route of attacking what they call “deep flaws” rather than accepting the verdict that proves their sister to be a monster just like daddy is perhaps to be expected. It, however, also is deeply flawed and it will not help them as they work towards whatever comes next.
Elsewhere, this morning, I was asked by my rising star actor and friend Haaz Sleiman – best known to date for his roles in The Visitor, NCIS, CSI: Miami, ER, Jack Ryan and Killing Jesus – about whether Ghislaine Maxwell will name other names in this case.
Answering the many other questions I’ve received in this regard also, in short my reply should assist all those with answers on the topic of “what’s next” in this case. It read:
“I doubt she will name anyone yet. She will go through the process of being analysed pre-sentencing – that will take a number of weeks. She is planning an appeal – that will take months. And then there is her second trial (lying under oath) – date to be set.”
“So, for now, given her arrogance and given that her lawyers want this to run and run given they have already made £7 million from her (she is to them a great cash cow), don’t expect that quite yet. It may come, but remember that her father once said: ‘I have a beautiful daughter and she’s just like me.’ I would replace ‘beautiful’ with ‘deviant.’”
I should have also added: “And that’s before we even get to the issue of ‘Randy’ Prince Andrew and what went on on that fateful night of Sloppy Giuseppes at Pizza Express (Woking Branch).”
On Monday 3rd January, ‘Agent A’ shared footage from Ghislaine Maxwell’s webcam. In it, the deviant daughter of ‘Bouncing Bob’ giggled and in ‘Carry On Style’ bizarrely joked: “Hello, hello, Are you playing? … Did you have life jackets on? Was safety part of this?” The person she was speaking to responded: “I’m not going to answer that question. My lawyer has advised me to answer such questions. My wife, in fact, for that matter.” The now convicted sex offender clearly never anticipated the irony of how such words now bite her in her rotten arse.
‘The Steeple Times’ chooses our Heroes & Villains 2021; the 25 best and 25 worst people of the last year and the 25 who’ll be missed and the 25 who won’t
Happy New Year to all our readers. Our ‘Heroes & Villains’ list was well received in 2020 and as we move into 2021, we yet again to echo our sentiments from last year and join all celebrating ‘good riddance’ to the monstrous mess that so sadly continued from 2020 into 2021.
May we now all hope that this period of uncertainty is coming towards it end and may we salute the heroic frontline workers who’ve continued to work towards getting a solution to this.
Our Heroes & Villains 2021 list follows, but first we make a special award:
For such amazing dedication and tenacity in his quest to help others, this 24-year-old truly deserves to be commended as not just a hero of the year, but as one of the most remarkable men of the decade. We salute Marcus Rashford and join those lauding him for showing compassion, kindness and decency.
Long may this decent gent continue – but may we also hope that one day soon, a country like Britain stops actually needing to rely on the efforts of such people. It is time in 2022 for our Prime Minister to work towards provide a solution to this crisis, rather than, as it did in 2021, to allow itself to get mixed up in scandals such as ‘Wallpapergate’ and the disgraceful protection of its very own self-serving members like ‘MP for the BVI’ Geoffrey Cox QC and the now money grabbing rather than constituent focused ex-MP Owen Paterson.
HEROES OF 2021
We’ve seen some great people do some wonderful things during 2022 and in the face adversity and strife, it is yet again healthcare heroes who are the ones most deserving of our ultimate respect as they continue to fight to rid us all of coronavirus.
Elsewhere, others have put on extreme shows of courage, broken down barriers and supported those working to expose injustice. We celebrate them all, but our first selection for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list had to be:
WINNER – Richard Ratcliffe
Iranian-British dual citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been imprisoned for no good reason in Iran for 19 months. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, meanwhile, has never given up hope and his 21-day hunger strike in Westminster in 2021 was illustration of his dedication and courage.
Though the British government has done little to nothing to help him and that the Foreign Secretary has yet to reach a solution is beyond disgraceful, Ratcliffe remains hopeful and in December remarked: “It feels like things are moving and movement is good. My greatest fear is inertia. I always feel it’s shameful, how could it happen, but it did.”
Rose Ayling-Ellis
Aged just 27 and born deaf, Rose Ayling-Ellis has played Frankie Lewis in the BBC One soap EastEnders since 2020. In 2021, she became the first deaf contestant on the channel’s Strictly Come Dancing and went on to win the show’s nineteenth series.
Her victory brought joy to the nation and of her success, award winning deaf and disabled journalist Liam O’Dell remarked: “It goes to show how, with the right support, deaf people can achieve anything… It’s important now that the buzz, passion and momentum generated by Rose’s journey does not dissipate – let’s continue uplifting deaf people!”
Alfie Best
In spite of being of humble origins and leaving school aged just 12, “old school, blood and blisters businessman” Alfie Best has risen to the top and deservedly recently won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ at the Signature Awards at the Park Lane Hilton, London.
Described as “the world’s first gypsy billionaire” by the Mirror in August 2021, Wlydecrest Parks chairman and founder Best remarked: “I’m a Romany gypsy. I’m a gypsy through and through and sometimes I pinch myself.”
Generous, flamboyant and the owner of a fleet of helicopters and supercars, Best is the largest residential park and holiday home operator in the UK. He has over 91 parks in the UK alone and is also the owner of East Thurrock United.
Alfie Best, interviewed first by The Steeple Times in April 2017, is someone with tenacity and dedication to hard work. He sets an example to others that if you put in the hours, you’ll get the results and success you desire.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, LG, GCVO, CSM, PC
Herself an “avid reader as a child,” the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, started what she described as a ‘Reading Room’ that is “inspired by the success of Her Royal Highness’s reading lists shared during the pandemic in 2020” in the last year.”
It has involved everyone from William Boyd and Susan Hill to Kazuo Ishiguro and Hilary Mantel and of why she started it, she herself stated:
“To me, reading is a great adventure. I’ve loved it since I was very small and I’d love everybody else to enjoy it as much as I do. You can escape and you can travel and you can laugh and you can cry. There’s every kind of emotion that humans experience in a book… It has been a lovely way of communicating.”
We urge readers of The Steeple Times to join the 128,000 who’ve already followed this worthy endeavour on Instagram.
Tony Hudgell (AKA ‘Bear’)
Happy New Year Everyone🎉 A message from Tony see you in 2022
Wishing you all health, love and happiness in the year to come 💙
— Tony Hudgell BEM (BCyA) Paula Hudgell OBE (@paula_hudgell) December 31, 2021
In his relatively short life thus far, 7-year-old double amputee and victim of parental abuse as a baby Tony Hudgell has morphed into a courageous changemaker.
This unstoppable dynamo – now adopted by two loving parents and living in West Malling, Kent – is a true “inspiration” and described as someone who “never complains, carries on no matter what is thrown at him – all the challenges, he just gets back up and carries on.”
Nicknamed ‘Captain’ for following in the footsteps of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, Weller responded to the news by announcing:
“I’m chuffed to bits… It feels absolutely amazing to be honoured by the Queen. My mum told me about the award on Christmas Day and I thought, ‘wow! I am so excited.’”
“It makes me feel magnificent. I love raising money for charity and knowing I have helped other children is a lovely feeling. I am so proud and privileged.”
VILLAINS OF 2021
As could only be expected, many of the usual suspects to be considered villains in the context of our Heroes & Villains listings have behaved appallingly during 2021. Amongst them, towards the top of such a collection, has to be the buffoon that supposedly runs Britain but seems too busy consuming cheese and wine with his puppet mistress wife, Boris Johnson, and the mendacious money grabber the Duchess of Sussex and her sidekick drip of a husband, Prince Harry.
This dastardly duo – quite rightly now known as ‘Ginge and Cringe’ – have caused pain to the Queen at a time when she has lost her stalwart husband and joining them, others consistent in their vileness and ridiculousness must include, as ever, publican Tim Martin for whining about his beloved Brexit causing his profits to slump and the especially moronic media mouthpieces Darren Grimes, Owen Jones and Richard Madeley for their continuing crackpot craziness.
Now, unlike the entirely innocent and wrongly incarcerated Nazanin Zaghhari-Ratcliffe, rightly certain to spend the rest of her days rotting in the clink, mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured in happier times with her father’s rival, Rupert Murdoch) will never again be called a “socialite.”
This wicked wench will henceforth quite deservedly will forever be labelled a “sex offender” and “sex trafficker” and again The Steeple Times joins those calling for the 1994 Met Police investigation into what went on at the alleged brothel at her Stanhope Mews East mews house to urgently be reopened.
We know that’ll be unlikely to occur whilst her school and university mate Dame Cressida Dick remains in charge and equally, we suspect, the deviant daughter of a murdering pension pot plunderer will not offer up any powerful names of those that so disgustingly ‘enjoyed’ abusing the innocent victims she so willingly passed around.
Shame on her and in 2022 and beyond, may Ghislaine Maxwell forever rot in hell.
Russell Brand
In June 2021, The Steeple Times featured the story of how The Sun excused the unfunny comedian Russell Brand as “quick thinking and a hero” after his German Shepherd dog, Bear, caught a female wallaby “whilst it had its baby in its pouch” and “mauled it to death” in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He should have instead been condemned and most certainly not saluted and at time we remarked:
“If Brand’s dog had attacked sheep or a child – which it quite potentially could do next given it plainly has a clear penchant for blood – would The Sun so easily have leapt to his defence? The hypocrisy of this shocking story is clear and today we call upon the RSPCA and police to intervene before Brand’s dog slaughters something else.”
As far as we are aware, disgustingly, both Bear and Brand remain at large; where the poor wallaby and its baby is buried is, however, unknown.
Gordon Elliott
Racing “blow-in” – given his being the son of a panel-beater and lacking any familial connections to horse racing – Gordon Elliott brought utter disgrace to the sport in March 2021 when he was banned as a trainer for 12 months after being captured on camera sitting on a dead horse whilst on his mobile phone and making a V-sign. Outrageously, this sick scumbag was allowed back into the game just 6 months later and nobody seemed to bat an eyelid.
Ivy Holt
PR pontificating prized pillock Ivy Holt of Media PR is so “highbrow” that we haven’t even got a photo of her – not that we’re bothered; it’d probably break your screens, she’s probably as ugly as sin physically on top of her ugly as sin soul.
This wannabe Brian Basham and fake news muckspreader was called out by The Steeple Times on 1st April 2021 – April Fools’ Day – after she tried to make a mockery of our previous day’s story about the twentieth anniversary of the tragic murder of Stuart Lubbock at the home of the disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore. Shame on her; what an utter disgrace.
Ms Holt (AKA Ivy Elizabeth Barbara Elsby) thought herself clever for sending a press release containing nothing but fake news. When questioned, she claimed that we, instead, were at fault for hurting the feelings of the deranged drug addict Lindsay Lohan. Frankly, this stupid cow and her crappy clients ‘Love Yourself’ ought to have got real. Next!
Rebecca Sabben-Clare
If you were a barrister, you’d most probably abide by the law and be a pillar of the community. Sadly, Rebecca Sabben-Clare of 7 King’s Bench isn’t such a person and after failing to keep her dog on a lead, the result was that her out-of-control beast savagely killed a seal that it managed to get its teeth into.
Sabben-Clare, instead of putting her hands up in shame, then tried to PR her way out of the situation and herself lawyered up. Why the police didn’t prosecute this unfit-to-own-an-animal-of-any-kind barbarian is beyond comprehension.
James Staley (AKA ‘Jes Staley’)
In February 2020, The Steeple Times made reference to an investigation into Barclays CEO Jes Staley (pictured left) in connection to his close connection to the croaked just under a year earlier paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
It took 627 days until anything progressed, but on 1st November 2021, this Boston, Massachusetts born close associate of Ghislaine Maxwell’s ex-lover finally stepped down. The mucky madam, meanwhile, had her Barclays account closed shut down while she was trying to fund her case in February 2020 on the basis of her links to the proceeds of crime.
THOSE WHO’LL BE MISSED
Sadly, as with any year, countless great people pass on into the skies and amongst the many who’ll be greatly missed are are the Queen’s late husband and constant stalwart Prince Philip, the billionaire businessmen Sir David Barclay and Galen Weston OC, CVO, OOnt, footballer Jimmy Greaves, founder of Tramp nightclub Johnny Gold, the Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding, the talk show host Larry King, the actresses Helen McCrory OBE and Una Stubbs, the racehorse trainer Zoe Davison and the Cheveley Park Stud owner David Thompson CBE.
Our twenty-five selections follow, but naturally the winner of the most missed for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list had to be:
WINNER – Archbishop Desmond Tutu OMSG CH GCStJ
A 90-year-old humanitarian, human rights activist and key force in the campaign to end apartheid, this humble South African hero to millions insisted on “no ostentatiousness or lavish spending” for his funeral and that he be given “the cheapest available coffin.”
Of him, via a video message shown at his funeral, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the worldwide Anglican church, remarked:
“Archbishop Tutu lit up the world… that light has lit up countries globally that were struggling with fear, conflict, persecution, oppression, where the marginalised suffered.”
“When we were in the dark, he brought light. For me to praise him is like a mouse giving tribute to an elephant.”
“South Africa has given us extraordinary examples of towering leaders of the rainbow nation with President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu… Many Nobel winners’ lights have grown dimmer over time, but Archbishop Tutu’s has grown brighter.”
The late Archbishop himself once wisely added: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” He was spot on and with his passing, humanity is all the poorer.
Harry Brant
A “socialite and style setter” according to The New York Times, Harry Brant fulfilled the prophecy of “the good die young” when he was found dead aged just 24 in January 2021.
Son of the industrialist Peter M. Brant and original supermodel Stephanie Seymour, this modern-day “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” as Vanity Fair once called him, “pushed the boundaries on gender stereotype” and released unisex makeup collections with MAC with his brother even in 2015 and 2016.
Of his passing, his family announced in a statement: “He was a creative, loving and powerful soul that brought light into so many people’s hearts. He was truly a beautiful person inside and out.”
John Challis
The Steeple Times interviewed actor John Challis in May 2013. He told us that “mobile phones are a bloody nuisance” and that he loathed the word “gobsmacked.” He spoke of ABBA being his guilty pleasure and his love of the Hotel Splendido in Portofino and though he became best known for playing a conniving car dealer in Only Fools and Horses, he was only meant to be in the sitcom for one episode.
Thrice married and born in Clifton, Bristol, the legend that was John Challis died aged 79 in September 2021. The statement: “Come on, Marlene. Let’s go home and ignore each other for the evening” will sadly now never be heard directly from his lips ever again.
Terry Lubbock
A campaigner to the end for justice for his raped and murdered son, Stuart – a father of two who was killed in the most gruesome manner in March 2001 at the home of the since deservedly disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore – died after a long battle with cancer in September 2021.
Though he never managed to see any of those present at the Roydon, Essex bungalow when his son died, he will forever be remembered for being “mild-mannered” yet having “the heart of a lion.”
Wilbur Smith
Born in Northern Rhodesia in 1933, British-South African novelist Wilbur Smith (pictured with his beloved wife, Niso) had published an astonishing 49 books and sold over 140 million copies by the time he died in November 2021.
Smith was an international household name whose swashbuckling adventure stories gripped readers for over half a century. He covered critical periods including the dawn of colonial Africa, the American Civil War and the apartheid era South Africa and did so with style and panache.
In 2018, in his memoir On Leopard Rock, the author recounted his life and remarked he’d had ““tough times, bad marriages … burnt the midnight oil getting nowhere, but it has, all in the end, added up to a phenomenally fulfilled and wonderful life.” Believer in “deep research” Smith concluded: “I want to be remembered as somebody who gave pleasure to millions” and he most certainly will.
THOSE WHO WON’T BE MISSED
It is much harder to choose villains who deserve to be dead than heroes who deserve to be missed given they are all loved by somebody whatever they may have done, but lots of bad guys and gals have gone in 2021 – amongst them mobsters, murderers, rapists and sex offenders.
Those that especially stand out for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list include:
WINNER – Bernard L. Madoff
Having been sent to prison for 150 years, the maximum sentence allowed, on 29th June 2009, Queens, New York born Bernie Madoff died in prison on 14th April 2021.
An individual rotten to his core and the personification of greed this Ponzi schemer stole not only £48 billion ($65 billion), but also left behind a family in ruins. One of his two sons died of cancer, the other committed suicide and to the end this wicked “wizard of lies” and all-round wrong ‘un.
Quite rightly, in June 2020, this fraudster’s request for release on compassionate grounds was denied. His wife, Ruth, continues to deny any knowledge of the fraud in spite of being the long-time keeper of his books.
Michael McKevitt
Founder of the Real IRA Michael McKevitt was the brother-in-law of hunger striking Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker Bobby Sands.
A County Leith native and eventually expelled from the Real IRA, McKevitt was one of four men found liable for the 1988 Omagh bombing and jailed in 2003 for “directing terroism” between August 1999 and October 2000. He had allegedly planned to assassinate the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and died following a battle with cancer on 2nd January 2021.
Donald Rumsfeld, 13th and 21st United States Secretary of Defense
Forever more, Donald Rumsfeld’s name will be associated with “the biggest military fiasco in US history, the 2003 invasion of Iraq in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, alongside the widespread use of torture that has dogged America’s reputation ever since” according to The Guardian.
A Donald Trump supporter described by Henry Kissinger as “the most ruthless man” he ever knew, the villain Rumsfeld was also labelled the “worst secretary of defense in American history” and a man who “lacked the wisdom to change his mind” by The Atlantic. Many believe this psychopath will burn in hell; they are more than likely right.
Phil Spector (born Harvey Phillip Spector)
Born in The Bronx, New York in December 1939, this clearly talented but totally unsound of mind American record producer, musician and songwriter worked with The Beatles, The Ronettes and Tina Turner.
In 2009, this monstrous twisted drug addict was convicted of the 2003 murder by shooting of the actress Lana Clarkson at his then home, the Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra, California, and sentenced to nineteen years to life in prison. Phil Spector died in the clink in Los Angeles, in January 2021. The world is a better place for this repugnant specimen’s passing.
Raymond Teret (AKA ‘Ugli’ and ‘Ugly Ray’)
Chauffeur to the perverted paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile turned radio DJ, Salisbury born Ray Teret was accused of over thirty offences of sexual abuse and eventually convicted of seven counts of rape and eleven counts of indecent assault in December 2014.
AND FINALLY… A SELECTION OF FIVE AMAZING ANIMALS WHO’VE SADLY LEFT US IN 2021
Some incredible animals spotted doing incredible things have kept us all going in the dark days 2021, but amongst those that sadly passed and are thus included on our Heroes & Villains 2021 list are:
WINNER – Seal named ‘Freddie Mercury’
Though the death of any majestic animal is awful, the way in which an irresponsible barrister (one of our Villains of 2021) named Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC reacted after her “snarling” terrier-cross mauled to death a “defenceless” seal on the River Thames in March 2021 was utterly disgraceful.
‘Freddie Mercury,’ as the seal was nicknamed, shamefully never got justice whilst the reprehensible Sabben-Clare was not even prosecuted. The lesson here is this: If you spot this wicked woman and her deranged dog in 2022, run for the hills.
Racehorse named ‘Galileo’
Aged 23 at the time of his death in July 2021, Galileo was a spectacular Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who ran eight times and won six races including The Derby, the Irish Stakes, the King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2001. After his retirement, he became one of the most sought after sires of the world with notable offspring including Frankel, Nathaniel, and Anthony Van Dyck.
Minke whale calf named ‘Minnie’
In May 2021, an injured minke whale calf became trapped at Teddington Lock in the River Thames. Stuck sixty miles from the estuary, this poor 13-foot long juvenile – which was named ‘Minnie’ – got stuck in weeds after “running out of river and having nowhere to go.” After a desperate attempt to save the “poor fella,” the unfortunate mammal had to be put down with an overdose of anaesthetic.
Racehorse named ‘Roy Rocket’
With nine 1st places along with two 2nd and six 3rd places at Brighton during his eleven-year life, “Roy’s The Boy,” as he was known was “an incredible horse.” Stubborn to the point he wouldn’t go anywhere else, this favourite of punters even had an octogenarian fan named Iris who forced his trainer, John Berry, to down flasks of gin prior to sending him to post.
Dolphin named ‘Winter’
This female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin was found when she circa two months old tangled in a crab trap line in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida in December 2005. Without circulation to her tail flukes as a result, ‘Winter’ lost her tail and was given a prosthetic replacement. In turn, it allowed her make a complete recovery and become an international star featuring in books, films and Nintendo games even. She died in November 2021 of a twisted intestine.
THANK YOU AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2022
All at The Steeple Times would like to thank everyone who has contributed suggestions to our list of the Heroes & Villains 2021. Most have expressed that they would rather not be named so we shall respect that, but all their contributions are greatly appreciated.
May we end by wishing you and yours great times and prosperity in 2022 and may this, for us all, be a much better year.
Cheers and happiness galore and do send your suggestions for the heroes and villains of 2022 to us at [email protected] as the year progresses.
Matthew Steeples reflects on shamed sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction and slams the BBC and Sky News for their coverage of the verdict; he also calls on the Met Police to reopen their 1994 investigation into the deviant’s activities in London
As Ghislaine Maxwell’s totally deserved transition from being a super-connected “Miss Moneybags” to going down in history as nothing but a “Mendacious ‘Monster Moving’ Mucky Madam” sets in concrete, the BBC and Sky News have been quite rightly called out over their disgracefully lax coverage of her conviction.
When the guilty verdicts on five out of the six charges came in last night, wall-to-wall coverage began across all media channels, but both aforementioned stations got it totally wrong in how they presented the story. Frankly, they should be ashamed of themselves and frankly, they owe the victims an apology.
In the case of Sky News, I was amongst those calling the channel out on Twitter as they continued to call ‘Cap’n Bob’s’ decidedly deviant daughter a “socialite” when in fact they should have replaced that description with “convicted sex offender.” Miss Maxwell, it must now be noted, will simply go down in history as a wicked wench abused by her monstrous father who then who turned to wickedly abusing others in cahoots with her monstrous associates.
Worse still elsewhere, the BBC tripped up in an even bigger manner in asking lawyer Alan Dershowitz – a man who once stated of his ‘activities’ at the croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Lenox Hill, New York mansion: “I kept my underwear on during the massage” – on to comment on the verdict in spite of the fact he has been accused of being one of Virginia Giuffre’s sexual abusers.
Responding on Twitter, human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher got over 16,900 likes when she remarked:
“Sorry, what?! @BBCNews now have Alan Dershowitz on to analyse #GhislaineMaxwell’s conviction, without any reference to his background; he’s simply introduced as ‘constitutional lawyer’ as if he’s a neutral expert. Shocked. Utterly bizarre decision & does the audience a disservice.”
“It’s the choice to interview him, but more importantly 1) not contextualising in any way: no mention of Dershowitz having acted for Epstein,or that Virginia Giuffre accused him of abuse, or the defamation suits, & 2) giving him a platform to undermine Giuffre, unchallenged. Appalling.”
“I’m adding to this Thread given some replies simply to say that I’m generally an admirer of BBC editorial standards, & as a media lawyer I understand pressures with breaking news stories. But in my view there were many mistakes here. I hope @BBCNews will acknowledge this & apologise.”
“I see some others have pulled @BBCNews up on this terrible decision-making tonight, too. See these other threads on Dershowitz being interviewed as a ‘legal expert’ on the #GhislaineMaxwellTrial #GhislaineMaxwell, by @sarahchurchwell & @NadiaWhittomeMP.”
Going further subsequently, British Labour MP Nadia Whittome quite rightly added:
“Alan Dershowitz, who was accused of the same crimes as Prince Andrew, is on the BBC trying to silence victims following Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction. I can’t believe this needs to be said but the BBC should not give a platform to people accused of child sexual abuse.”
Turning to analysis of a woman described by her father – a pig-like murdering maniac nicknamed ‘Bouncing Bob’ after his cheques went awry after he stole £500 million from his company’s own pension fund (that has to this day never been found) – as being “just like me,” victim Sarah Ransome this morning shockingly told Sky News:
“Ghislaine was the main enforcer. Jeffrey said: ‘You answer to Ghislaine. She is the lady of the house.’ … She forced me into Jeffrey’s house in order to be raped… [Afterwards] I looked at her and that’s why it is really important for me to have looked at her and said: ‘You forced me into that room to be raped.’ And she smiled. I smiled right back at her.”
Indicative of how vile a person Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-lover and procurer truly is, this description of a woman known for putting dildos on dinner tables as part of place settings provides illustration that she is most definitely just like her deranged daddy – someone with utterly no moral compass.
In the end for Ghislaine Maxwell her lush life and privilege was no protection. May this evil woman, a person who believed she could get through based on “manners and magnetism,” now get what she deserves; to end of her days rotting in eternal hell. A second trial now looms large and though she’ll appeal the first, this murky menace would do well to remember a tweet from her very own account of the 20th December that read: “Remember money, manipulation and memory.” In the end, that’s what actually got her.
The BBC disgraced themselves in inviting Alan Dershowitz to comment on the verdict given he is linked not as an expert, but as someone implicated in partaking in ‘activities’ connected to the now convicted mucky madam Maxwell. They must apologise to the victims for this clear error of judgment. The 83-year-old was slammed after the BBC failed to censure him when he stated: “The most important thing for British viewers is that the government was very careful who it used as witnesses. It did not use as a witness the woman who accused Prince Andrew, who accused me, who accused many other people, because the government didn’t believe she was telling the truth. In fact she, Virginia Giuffre, was mentioned in the trial as somebody who brought young people to Epstein for him to abuse, so this case does nothing to strengthen the case against Prince Andrew, indeed it weakens the case against Prince Andrew considerably because the government was very selective in who it used. It used only witnesses it said were credible and it deliberately didn’t use the main witness, the woman who started the whole investigation – Virginia Giuffre – because they ultimately didn’t believe she was telling the truth and they didn’t believe a jury would believe her and they were right in doing so.” Earlier this week, as the world mourns the loss of Desmond Tutu, Dershowitz reprehensibly branded the Nobel Peace Prize winning archbishop an “anti-Semite” and a “bigot.” Shame on him and shame on the BBC.Responding to Sky News’ decision to continue referencing a convicted criminal as a “socialite,” Matthew Steeples responded by suggesting she should instead be branded a “sex trafficker” and “sexual abuser.” Going further, crusading author of ‘Ghislaine Maxwell: An Unauthorized Biography’ Kirby Sommers thanked ‘The Steeple Times’ for publishing excerpts of her book “when [the] mainstream media was busy calling her a ‘socialite.’”After the guilty on five out of six charges verdict, the Maxwell family used their @RealGhislaine Twitter channel to predictably protest their sister’s innocence. They announced that their sibling would be appealing and elsewhere Kirby Sommers – whose book can be published by clicking here – surmised the now convicted sex offender’s mood in the courtroom. Sommers commented: “[She] showed no emotion in the courtroom when the charges were read. She simply whispered something into her attorney’s ear while the charges were being read. And as she walked out of the courtroom she glanced at her siblings – the other spies in the Maxwell family.” Continuing in a separate missive, Sommers added: “This is a big departure from 14th July 2021 when she stood in front of Judge Nathan, after her arrest on 2nd July, and was denied bail. At that time she dried a tear drop off her cheek.”Ghislaine Maxwell has shown herself to be devoted only to money and men. Pictured top left with a photograph of her evil father, she subsequently replaced him with grubby associations with her husband since 2016 Scott Borgerson (top centre) – a man who couldn’t even be bothered to turn up to her trial – and Prince Andrew (top right, clearly not sweating) and her late lover Jeffrey Epstein (lower photograph) – a man whose feet she charmingly liked to massage with her breasts.No word has been heard yet from the ‘Bouncing Czech’s’ deviant daughter’s supporters. Amongst them have been restaurateur Keith McNally, PR peddler Brian Basham, tellybox twerp Richard Madeley and mouthy meddler Jay Beecher.After the conviction of this sordid sex trafficker, Matthew Steeples tweeted: “I believe she was the chief and the former taxi driver Epstein the functionary. I now call on the Met Police to reopen their 1994 investigation into her activities in London.” In a subsequent tweet, he added: “Dame Cressdia went to the same school at the same time as Ghislaine Maxwell; they studied at the same college. Why was the 1994 Met Police investigation into the brothel at GM’s house stopped?”Elsewhere online, a petition calling on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to “suspend Lord Mandelson from Labour while carrying out probe into extent of his involvement with sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell” has been started. Peter Mandelson holidayed with the convicted paedophile Epstein, called him whilst he was in prison in January 2009 and left supportive messages on the now convicted sex trafficker Maxwell’s TerrMar Project website in 2012.Bizarrely, in June 2020, after ‘The Steeple Times’ reported on Lord Mandelson’s links to the case of ‘missing’ Madeleine McCann, a likeness of a suspect that looked remarkably like an image of Ghislaine Maxwell emerged. We do not believe this to be one and the same woman, but it is indeed a remarkable coincidence.The irony of grubby Ghislaine’s downfall is that the viral meme that has done the rounds of this sexual deviant has finally come true for her: “True love is… Finishing each other’s sentences.” Long may this wicked wench rot in hell.
